Jump to content

Narrowband

Mars April 20th


johnh

Recommended Posts

SPX350 F39.1, PGRFlea3, Baader RGB filters.

I started a bit later when the breeze subsided and my first 2 images were good so I combined them in WJupos for extra detail.  Seeing was fair but deteriorated to avg.  I got another Saturn in fair seeing a well.

Mars RGB-1138-1147hrs UT

Saturn R RGB-1352hrs UT.

Thanks, John.

post-2572-0-61287900-1398067777.png

post-2572-0-94995100-1398067792_thumb.pn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks fo the comments.

Great stuff. Lovely detail on both Mars and Saturn (surprising given the low altitude). Seeing was so bad here I did not get out the imaging gear, which was a good choice as clouds came in at 11:30.

I am imaging from Brisbane Australia with Saturn and Mars very high altitude giving me a small advantage over European observers?  Seeing has been above avg against predictions, so I am not complaining.  Southern Hemi observers will have Mars and Saturn for a few years yet I am afraid.

Regards, John.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks fo the comments.

I am imaging from Brisbane Australia with Saturn and Mars very high altitude giving me a small advantage over European observers?  Seeing has been above avg against predictions, so I am not complaining.  Southern Hemi observers will have Mars and Saturn for a few years yet I am afraid.

Regards, John.

Hadn't checked your location. Being in Brisbane at the moment is not a small advantage ;). Excellent work from any location.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple of cracking images there John. A pleasure to view!

Thanks fo the comments.

I am imaging from Brisbane Australia with Saturn and Mars very high altitude giving me a small advantage over European observers?  Seeing has been above avg against predictions, so I am not complaining.  Southern Hemi observers will have Mars and Saturn for a few years yet I am afraid.

Regards, John.

Indeed John and that includes looking a few years head to 2018 when we will have another close opposition ( just a little less than in 2003 )  - and when Mars will be very low in the Northern Hemisphere... :sad:

                                                                      Best regards,

                                                                                             Ralph

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my! Those are incredible shots! So much detail!

Would you mind if I asked your capture details for Saturn? I'm new to planetary imaging and really struggling with it.

Cheers,

Chris

Planetary imaging is tough and you need to build up experience.  Mars and Saturn are very difficult for UK observers, I am in Australia so its easier.  My Fl is very long at 13,700mm 0.8"/pixel - you can get good images at 6-9,000mm.  You need to collimate on a star to guarantee focus crispness if seeing is good.  For Saturn I am using 200 secs per channel RGB with Firecapture, I collect about 4,500,3000,2000 frames each for RGB in 8bit with full gain and no gamma and histogram is at 85% for each channel.  At shorter FL you could collect more easily with a moderate sized scope.  For UK imagers Jupiter is much easier subject as turbulence with destroy low Saturn and Mars will be very unsteady.

I use AutoStakkert to stack, Registax5 to sharpen and WinJupos to derotate and assemble RGB with PS to finish.  Resize images larger with 10% increments to keep sharpness.

Don't give up because of poor results as it is always seeing quality, eventually you will get good seeing and it will all fit into place but Saturn and Mars will be disappointing from the UK I would imagine.  But give it a try its all good experience.

Regards, John.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Planetary imaging is tough and you need to build up experience.  Mars and Saturn are very difficult for UK observers, I am in Australia so its easier.  My Fl is very long at 13,700mm 0.8"/pixel - you can get good images at 6-9,000mm.  You need to collimate on a star to guarantee focus crispness if seeing is good.  For Saturn I am using 200 secs per channel RGB with Firecapture, I collect about 4,500,3000,2000 frames each for RGB in 8bit with full gain and no gamma and histogram is at 85% for each channel.  At shorter FL you could collect more easily with a moderate sized scope.  For UK imagers Jupiter is much easier subject as turbulence with destroy low Saturn and Mars will be very unsteady.

I use AutoStakkert to stack, Registax5 to sharpen and WinJupos to derotate and assemble RGB with PS to finish.  Resize images larger with 10% increments to keep sharpness.

Don't give up because of poor results as it is always seeing quality, eventually you will get good seeing and it will all fit into place but Saturn and Mars will be disappointing from the UK I would imagine.  But give it a try its all good experience.

Regards, John.

Thanks John! Seeing images like yours just gets me even more motivated to keep at it.

I've been trying to keep my gain at 60% and histogram at about 75%, I'll try push up the gain and histogram next time there's a gap in the clouds. Although I'd imagine your flea3 is a lot less noisy at max gain than my qhy5. I'll experiment! All part of the fun. I'm finding my red channel for Saturn isn't toooo bad, but blue is just a smudge. Here's hoping to getting some good seeing.

Many thanks!

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chris I use 180 sec per channel at 13,700mm FL as Mars is a slow revolver 24hrs 37mins, you could go for longer if your FL is shorter you will have to experiment.

John.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.